Badiou， Alain - The communist hypothesis [2008].pdf

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1、alainbadiouTHECOMMUNISTHYPOTHESISherewasatangiblesenseofdepressionintheairinFranceintheaftermathofSarkozy’svictory.1ItisoftensaidthatTunexpectedblowsaretheworst,butexpectedonessome-timesprovedebilitatinginadifferentway.Itcanbeoddlydispiritingwhenanelectioniswonbythe

2、candidatewhohasledintheopinionpollsfromthestart,justaswhenthefavouritehorsewinstherace;anyonewiththeslightestfeelingforawager,arisk,anexceptionorarupturewouldratherseeanoutsiderupsettheodds.YetitcouldhardlyhavebeenthebarefactofNicolasSarkozyasPresidentthatseemedtoco

3、meassuchadisorientatingblowtotheFrenchleftintheaftermathofMay2007.Somethingelsewasatstake—somecomplexoffactorsforwhich‘Sarkozy’ismerelyaname.Howshoulditbeunderstood?Aninitialfactorwasthewayinwhichtheoutcomeaffirmedthemani-festpowerlessnessofanygenuinelyemancipatorypr

4、ogrammewithintheelectoralsystem:preferencesaredulyrecorded,inthepassiveman-nerofaseismograph,buttheprocessisonethatbyitsnatureexcludesanyembodimentsofdissentingpoliticalwill.Asecondcomponentoftheleft’sdepressivedisorientationafterMay2007wasanoverwhelmingboutofhistor

5、icalnostalgia.ThepoliticalorderthatemergedfromWorldWarTwoinFrance—withitsunambiguousreferentsof‘left’and‘right’,anditsconsensus,sharedbyGaullistsandCommunistsalike,onthebalance-sheetoftheOccupation,ResistanceandLiberation—hasnowcollapsed.ThisisonereasonforSarkozy’so

6、stentatiousdinners,yacht-ingholidaysandsoon—awayofsayingthattheleftnolongerfrightensanyone:Viventlesriches,andtohellwiththepoor.Understandably,thismayfillthesinceresoulsoftheleftwithnostalgiaforthegoodolddays—Mitterrand,DeGaulle,Marchais,evenChirac,Gaullism’sBrezhnev

7、,whoknewthattodonothingwastheeasiestwaytoletthesystemdie.newleftreview49janfeb20082930nlr49SarkozyhasnowfinallyfinishedoffthecadaverousformofGaullismoverwhichChiracpresided.TheSocialists’collapsehadalreadybeenantici-patedintheroutofJospininthepresidentialelectionsof20

8、02(andstillmorebythedisastrousdecisiontoembraceChiracinthesecondround).ThepresentdecompositionoftheSocialistParty,however,isnotjustamatter